Will IGCSEs go ahead

[Summertime2]

Anyone on here with a child taking international GCSEs in the uk and have any info as to whether they will go ahead in June?

We have been told by the school that they are not cancelled. Rather worried about this as it will very much disadvantage these uk kids who've missed so much teaching when they are lumped in with all the many more international students who have been taught as normal - and then examined as if the same...

We've been told by the school that they don't know the current situation and will keep us informed.

Just seen this

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55581576

"The IGCSE exams, usually only taken in private schools, are still going ahead this summer - even though GCSEs and A-levels have been cancelled.
Exam boards that run IGCSEs plan to offer them, while many other exams have been stopped by the pandemic.
IGCSE qualifications, alternative exams to GCSEs, are not usually available in state schools.
Pupils in England who would have taken A-levels and GCSEs will now depend on replacement teachers' grades.
The decision not to cancel IGCSEs was welcomed by the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), representing some of the most prestigious independent schools."

My dd is taking A levels with Cambridge exam board and we have just had an e-mail saying they are going ahead.

Seems unfair that private school pupils get a chance to do exams but state school pupils do not. I heard some private schools may be doing the exams online.

Rather worried about this as it will very much disadvantage these uk kids who've missed so much teaching when they are lumped in with all the many more international students who have been taught as normal - and then examined as if the same...
Not true the iGCSE papers are time-zoned in different regions so UK students won't be taking exactly the same papers as candidates in China.

That's interesting catsndogslife - so grade boundaries are determined by looking at students in each time zone rather than the cohort as a whole? That would at least mean UK students being compared to their contemporaries who've had their teaching affected

Ooh, just started another thread.... gahhh.... do people think this will really happen? Is it theat they'll exam boards are waiting for UK government to cancel them, instead of making decision themselves?

I didn’t find the CIE statement utterly clear but I guess the conclusion seems to be that igcse, international a levels and PreUs are currently planned to continue.

Hmm. Hard to know how to react to that. A lot of children are having a lot of sudden changes in plans this week. And a going to make for a very odd set up in our school with some of sixth form sitting no exams, some sitting for some subjects and some for all.

What a mess. Am going to leave it to school to tell my son :/)

It is a mess...

And up to schools whether to sit them? What happens if they decide not to... do they get teacher assessed grades? Or could schools switch to entering a GSCE instead? This needs a country wide approach, not a school by school one.

The up to schools comment is really fatuous, isn’t it ? Yes, let’s change to a totally different board and syllabus in January

I think the issue with Cambridge exams is that they are international exam body and the decision to cancel exams is a UK government one.
As far as I can tell they think it's perfectly reasonable to take the exams with appropriate safety measures in place.

Yes, I would hope the UK government would "overrule" the IGSCE boards, I am sure they wouldn't want to create such a disparity... especially since something like 94% of iGSCE are taken in private schools.

The main reason for the different time zones was to stop students who took exams earlier in the day leaking the questions on social media.
So yes UK students papers would be in the same zone as other countries similarly affected by the virus.

We are really worried about this, DD is at a state school and half her exams are iGCSE, she's missed so much school, there has been little online learning and they are back in lockdown atm. They aren't even reducing the content. Cambridge claim this is what their schools want, ours certainly doesn't, but it's too late to bale out now. I hate the fact that our school insists on them, when the kids are competing with top private schools.

Oh I'm sorry Susanna Spider, it's really the worst of all worlds isn't it. This situation is stressful enough for kids without this on top.

@SusannaSpider. Gosh. I didn’t think any state schools took them, now they don’t count towards league tables. That is tough.

Why on Earth independents didn’t dump them when GCSEs reformed, I don’t know.

How likely is a U turn?
Apparently Cambridge are 'monitoring the situation ' but they could delay a decision for months yet?
Such a stress for everyone.

It took CIE and Edexcel 4 and 6 days respectively to cancel iGCSE's last year after Boris announced the cancellation of GCSE's. It was an agonising time for students affected and in the meantime the boards posted updates to say they would go ahead making the whole situation worse. I don't know how it will play out this year but I hope for the sake of all those affected that this is resolved quickly.

Oh no, this is really going to screw over home educated teens too who used external places to ensure to be covered in this eventuality, but with the closures are even less likely to be able to book for exams as private candidates.

My DD2 has just told me this. I’m not sure how many of hers are igcse v gcse I think it’s a fair few. School have only just heard the news today that it’s their choice so no idea what her school will decide. Do they even have a choice? If they’re on then how can they do CAGs for those iGCSEs instead? I’m really unsure as to what would be best here as not all content has been covered.

Did Boris cancel quite late last year @TheTeenageYears
The boards may think they have more time to play with perhaps and drag it out?

Most home educated kids take them. Lots missed out last year on grades and are having to do theirs a year Late. To now cancel them would impact these kids badly.
Maybe a compromise is they stay for home educated kids and schools give their kids teacher assessed grades?

Why on Earth independents didn’t dump them when GCSEs reformed, I don’t know.

Our state school took on Cambridge when England changed the gradings, as they are very committed to keeping A-G grades. They also take some WJEC GCSEs, which are A-G. The kids do better with the WJEC GCSEs, as they are competing with similar schools, even though the content is supposed to be harder.

A lot of homeschoolers also take IGCSEs; if everything is cancelled again then it makes it very hard indeed for home ed kids to get grades, especially if they are self taught and don't have a tutor to provide CAGs.
For all private candidates (both home Ed kids and adults) IGCSEs going ahead would be excellent.